Court proceedings are on hold in a Lyon County arson case.
As part of a preliminary hearing Wednesday, Judge Doug Jones approved a request from David Anderson’s defense attorney, Paul Dean, for a competency evaluation. CrossWinds Counseling and Wellness will handle the evaluation, and Jones will set a new hearing date when the evaluation is finished.
Anderson has been charged with attempted aggravated arson, kidnapping, battery, criminal threat and drug counts after an alleged incident in the 800 block of Merchant last month.
Thee have been nearly 10 arson cases develop in Emporia since May, and the Anderson case is now taking a track similar to the case involving Uriel Sevilla, who has been charged with attempted arson after allegedly setting a fire inside 10 West Grill + Dive Bar in July. Sevilla was committed to the Larned State Security Hospital for “competency and restoration treatment” in late August. The plan was for a 90-day stay, meaning no possible movement in the case until late November at the earliest.
